I was all set to order this program, having looked through the "Look Inside" feature on Amazon. However, when I looked at the middle school program, it called itself an explicitly Christian program.

I really want a straight-forward writing program for academic writing rather than creative writing. I want lots of examples of student writing for my daughter to use as a point of comparison. I want help deciding what work deserves what mark.

Has anyone used this program? Should I rule it out or is it manageably religious? Is there something better?

GThomas

06-17-2013, 10:48 AM

I've not used that program before but am also looking for a program for my rising 7th grader dd just as you described. Let me know if you come to a decision. I'm only just starting my research!

PrairiePoppins

07-12-2013, 01:06 PM

I ended up going with Jensen's Format Writing. Donna Young's website has a free syllabus for it that breaks it into weekly chunks. But it is nowhere near as engaging or as detailed as "Power in Your Hands". For my daughter, in gr 11, it has a nice, uncluttered feel and no-nonsense approach that teaches a few key ideas and then stops talking and focuses on the fact that the kids have to do the writing.

For my son, who is in Gr 9 but has no confidence or interest when it comes to writing, I'm actually really pleased with a program I found called "Write On". While it is intended for elementary students (and is frankly the best program I've come across for that age and wish I'd known about it 8 years ago!), I think that the assignments are clear and clever, and there is nothing that marks this out as too juvenile for him. Every 5th assignment builds towards academic research reports and you could buy the program just for those and use it over the course of a year. The other assignments are more creative writing focused - fun and also important.